India based IT companies not opting for mass job cuts: Nasscom

Over few years there has been news of mass layoffs in the Indian IT sector, well to this the Industry body Nasscom recently ended all speculations and fears by claiming that the industry continues to be a "net hirer" with over 1.5 lakh people being employed on net basis every year. It also stated that the reports of mass layoffs were wrong; it said workforce shift, linked to performance appraisal processes, is a regular feature every year.

"Skilling and workforce realignment are essential to remain competitive in international markets. It needs to be appreciated that such workforce realignment is a normal part of the internal process of companies based on their own operational imperatives," Nasscom said in a statement.

Well, it is been marked out that no major changes have been reported or observed this year.

"Such reports are incorrect. In fact the industry continues to be a net hirer with over 1.5 lakh people being employed on a net basis each year, though the focus is shifting from scale to skill," it said.

Over the last few weeks, the reports of layoffs across the sector was widely spread making headlines. IT majors like Wipro, Infosys, Cognizant, and more recently, Tech Mahindra have begin annual performance reviews, the procedure that also weeds out bottom performers or non performers. According to this, estimation suggests that over the next few weeks thousands of employees in the sector could be shown the door.

The progress comes at a time when Indian IT firms are facing challenges in the business environment and stricter work permit command in countries like the US, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. While the companies have named these layoffs as part of normal business decisions, many consider these are aimed more towards scheming costs.